Maharashtra defeated Odisha comprehensively by 10 wickets on the fourth and final day of a Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Friday to pick up seven points from the encounter.
However, the win may not help Maharashtra's cause as it lies in fifth spot with 28 points behind Jammu & Kashmir (39), Odisha (35), Services (33) and Haryana (30). Only the top two teams from the group will advance to the knockout stages.
Maharashtra, which had declared at a mammoth 543 for five in reply to Odisha's first innings score of 293, dismissed the visitors for 289 in the second essay, setting themselves a target of 40 runs which they knocked off in 11 overs.
Resuming at the overnight score of 24 for no loss, Odisha were bowled out for 289 in 86.1 overs despite a fighting ton by Govinda Poddar (118, 187 balls, 14 fours, 2 sixes).
Left-arm medium-pacer Mukesh Choudhary was the best bowler for Maharashtra, returning with figures of 4 for 99 while medium-pacer Ashay Palkar and left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav were among wickets too.
The right-handed Poddar held the Odisha innings together as no other batsmen barring opener Anurag Sarangi (73, 152 balls, 13 fours) could build on the starts.
Sarangi and Poddar put on 94 runs for the third wicket and kept the Maharashtra bowlers at bay for nearly 28 overs.
After the exit of Sarangi, who was dismissed by Choudhary, Poddar and Biplab Samantray (19) added 40 runs for the fourth wicket.
Poddar was also involved in a half-century partnership with Abhishek Raut (23, 43 balls, 4 fours).
After the dismissal of Raut, Odisha lost their next five wickets in the space of 32 runs.
Choudhary bowled with a lot of discipline to pick up four wickets while Bachhav and Palkar too struck vital blows.
Skipper Ankit Bawane (14 not out) and Rahul Tripathi (21 not out) then ensured an easy win for Maharasthra.
The loss was a setback for Odisha, which is now static at 35 points with a game in hand against Jharkhand.
Brief scores (at end of day 4): Odisha 293 all out in 101.1 overs (Shantanu Mishra 84, Rajesh Dhuper 110 not out, Anurag Sarangi 41; A Palkar 4/81) and 289 all out in 86.1 overs (Govinda Poddar 118, Anurag Sarangi 73, Mukhesh Choudhary 4/99) lost to Maharashtra 543 for 5 declared in 149.5 overs (Ankit Bawane 204 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 129, N S Shaikh 100; Suryakant Pradhan 2/92) and 40 for no loss in 11 overs. Points: Maharashtra: 7, Odisha: 0.
At Jamshedpur: Chhattisgarh 559 all out in 160.3 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 221, Ajay Mandal 121 not out, Jiwanjot Singh 52; Sahil Raj 3/83, Sonu Kumar Singh 3/158) drew Jharkhand 242 all out in 75 overs (Virat Singh 140; Veer Pratap Singh 3/46, Puneet Datey 3/50) and 51 for no loss in 14 overs (Arnav Sinha 31 batting). Points: Chhattisgarh: 3, Jharkhand: 1.
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